Bulldogs outplay Bobcats

Published 12:41 am Saturday, October 30, 2010

Andalusia's Derrick King stiff arms Opp's Tyler Harrison Friday night. | Andrew Garner/Star-News

Andalusia completed its county rivalry sweep Friday night with a 31-21 victory over the Opp Bobcats at Bulldogs Stadium.

The Bulldogs scored 23 points in the first half compared to the Bobcats’ six.

AHS coach Brian Seymore said he was “excited” to get the sweep.

“I’m very happy for our team and our coaching staff,” Seymore said. “We’re definitely as far as the big three teams in the county — we’re the top team.

“I know our kids will come back next week, and they’ll be resiliant. We’ll come out with a good game plan, and hopefully we’ll come out here and carry it out.”

Andalusia’s Derrick King led in rushing, carrying the ball 18 times for 161 yards and scored one touchdown on the ground from 29 yards out. King also had a good night in the kick off return area, hitting pay dirt on a 62-yard return early in the second quarter.

On the defensive front, Andalusia senior linebacker Johnnie Jones led in tackling with 13, and caught one pick.

When asked what it felt like to close out the regular season with a win over Opp, Jones grinned and said, “It feels good.”

“We’ve got some stuff to work on, but the coaches will give us a good game plan,” Jones said.

In addition, the Bobcats’ passing game was shot down by Andalusia’s secondary play, where Andalusia’s Lakelyus “Fathead” Adams caught two interceptions.

With this win, the Bulldogs earned rival bragging rights over the Bobcats.

Next week, Andalusia will host Escambia County in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs.

At the start of the first quarter, the Andalusia defense held the Bobcats to a punt, but a fumble by the Bulldogs put Opp at Andalusia’s 24-yard line.

Then, the defense stepped up to hold the Bobcats to a field goal attempt by Dylan Northey. Northey’s attempt was no good.

On Andalusia’s first offensive series of the night, King scored his first touchdown of the night from the 29-yard line, capping off a 10-play drive from the Andalusia one yard line.

In that first series, King rushed for 77 yards of his total for the night. After the touchdown, the PAT was good by kicker Courey Hopkins. Hopkins finished the night 3-of-3 in PATs.

On Opp’s second offensive possession of the night, junior quarterback T.J. Register threw a pick into Jones’ arms with 34.1 seconds left in the first quarter.

Andalusia couldn’t get anything going at the start of the second quarter on offense, and junior punter C.P. Rogers kicked the ball away to the Opp 14.

The Bobcats utilized their pass game throughout the game, making key plays in the second half, where they scored one touchdown through the air.

Opp’s Tyler Harrison was sacked on his team’s third offensive possession, and the ball was placed on the four yard line.

Back to punt the ball, Quadir Kincaid’s punt was blocked by Andalusia junior linebacker Jacard Townsend, who recovered for a safety with 8:51 in the second.

Momentum clearly kept going Andalusia’s way when King ran the ball back for a 62-yard TD to help his team take a 16-0 lead with the extra point.

The Bobcats cut Andalusia’s lead to 10 points late in the first half, executing run plays, where Kincaid and Richard Davis took the brunt of the rushes.

Kincaid finished the drive with a three-yard rush with 2:59 left in the half. The two-point try was no good.

Andalusia (9-1) lined up at its own 47-yard line, and what was a pitch play from back up quarterback Deion Akins, turned into a 53-yard touchdown. Akins replaced starting quarterback Adam Zelensky Friday night. Zelensky was side-lined due to an injury.

The Bulldogs took a 23-6 lead at the half, and were to get the ball back to start the second half by winning the coin toss at the start.

The start of the second half could’ve gone better for Andalusia, as with a comfortable lead, gave the ball up on downs on its first offensive possession.

The defense held the Bobcats to a punt, where Opp tried for a fake, but was unsuccessful when Townsend and Adams sniffed it out, and made the tackle with 7:17 left in the third.

Andalusia would score its last touchdown of the night on a 43-yard pass from Akins to Townsend, who caught the ball with one hand and ran it back for the score. Townsend came through again for the Bulldogs, catching the two-point conversion pass from Akins.

Akins was 1-of-2 for 43 yards and a touchdown in passing. Townsend finished the night with one reception for 43 yards and a score.

With 2:57 left in the third quarter, Adams caught his first pick of the night off Register. A little more than three minutes, and the start of the fourth quarter, Adams caught his second pick of the night off Harrison.

The Bobcats held Andalusia to a three-and-out, and got the ball back with 9:56 left to play.

Opp (4-6) scored two touchdowns on a pass from Harrison to Drew Smith from 22 yards, and a nine-yard rush from Kincaid.

After Kincaid’s rushing score, Opp recovered an onside kick with 2:57 remaining in the contest.

“I’m proud of our kids for not quitting,” OHS coach Jack Whigham said. “We could have just laid down and let them blow us out of the stadium, and do the same thing like we did against Straughn, but we didn’t.

“Congratulations to Andalusia,” he said. “We send the best of luck to them in the playoffs.”

It should be noted that Adams almost caught his third interception, but the ball bounced out of his hands.

“He’s been a great asset for us at safety,” Seymore said about Adams. “Our defnense has carried us, and are going to make the plays for us. It’s playoff time now.

“You start over, and you start at 0-0,” he said. “It’s a lot of excitement. I’m glad to be playing in front of the home crowd. It’s like the 12th man. We’ll definitely be ready for next week.”

Andalusia got the ball back with 2:22 left, and got in the victory formation with the win. Akins kneed the ball, and few late penalties by Andalusia saw the ball back in Opp’s possession.

Harrison made a few pass attempts, but they fell incomplete. Davis received the last touch of the night with nine yards.

Davis led Opp in rushing with 196 yards on 31 carries and one touchdown. Kincaid had 15 carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns.